The illegal surrogacy industry is huge
How can we make the surrogacy return to its original intention? The continuous fermentation of Zheng Shuang's "abandonment of overseas surrogacy" has also aroused people's concern and heated discussion about overseas surrogacy
In fact, at present, the surrogacy industry has gradually "deformed" due to the participation of commercial surrogacy all over the world
This medical method, which was originally designed to solve the fertility problems of infertile couples and families who lost their independence, is gradually becoming a tool for criminals to make money
Eggs and embryos have become more and more weights for the illegal trade of surrogate agents
Among them, illegal intermediary is a bigger push
In addition, some netizens argued that while opposing illegal surrogacy, we should also have more specific care for female fertility
01 commercialization "deformation" of medical means according to the article "discovering the important mechanism of protein translation activation during sperm development" published by the center for excellence and innovation in molecular and Cell Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in December 2019, according to incomplete statistics, the infertility rate in China has continued to rise, from 6% in the past 20 years
9% to 17
1%, of which nearly 50% are caused by male factors
According to a survey conducted by frost Sullivan, a consultancy, the infertility rate in China may increase to 18 by 2023
2%銆?With the rapid development of artificial reproduction technology, surrogacy has become a life-saving straw for families who have lost their independence and childbearing difficulties
It is a clinical choice to solve infertility, and allowing artificial assisted reproduction also respects the reproductive rights of infertile couples
On december27,2015, the amendment to the population and family planning law adopted at the 18th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress also deleted the regulation that "surrogacy is prohibited in any form", indicating that infertile couples can implement surrogacy in medical institutions approved by the health administrative department, which must be for medical purposes and comply with domestic family planning policies, ethical principles and relevant laws and regulations
According to public data, by the end of 2018, there were 498 medical institutions approved to carry out human assisted reproductive technology in China, the vast majority of which were public hospitals
However, under the operation of illegal underground surrogacy agencies and institutions, the original normal medical means have formed a perfect black industrial chain
A surrogate agency told the 21 new health reporter, "foreign regions where surrogacy is legal will also review whether couples seeking surrogacy have fertility, but as far as we know, there will be black intermediaries to help customers solve the problem of proof
However, regular intermediaries for medical purposes will not receive customers like Zheng Shuang
" As early as 2004, lvjinfeng, who founded a surrogate website and claimed to be the first person engaged in the surrogate industry in China, told the media, "Excluding the risk cost, the profit margin of the surrogate business is only about 10%
There is no way to calculate the risk cost
Our average risk cost is about 200000 yuan, and the remuneration to the surrogate mother is 250000-260000 yuan
In addition to the rent, female fees and other expenses, the cost of each order needs 600000 yuan, plus the medical cost of 100000 yuan, so our actual profit margin is very low
Although this industry looks very chaotic now, I believe that Under the tide of scouring the sand, we will certainly move towards normalization and better serve the people
" Surrogacy agency has become an important link
China has clearly stipulated in the administrative measures for human assisted reproductive technology and the amendment to the population and family planning law that commercial surrogacy is strictly prohibited
Surrogacy can only be carried out in medical institutions approved by the health administrative department, and can only be used for medical purposes
This limits that legal surrogacy can only be carried out in approved medical institutions
However, surrogate agents, surrogate mothers and so-called "egg donors" do not belong to this subject, nor do they fall within the scope of this approach
As the main body leading the industrialization of surrogacy in China, the law can not punish them
On the official website of a surrogate institution in Wuhan, 21 new health reporters saw that it had information such as "cooperation with the top three hospitals"
During the inquiry, the staff of the agency said: "we have our own laboratory, that is, doctors in the first three hospitals carry out such things as the first row (embryo sex selection)
" Depending on the region and the "egg donor", the surrogate price is very different
"At present, in China or Southeast Asia, the price of Bao Shunli is 85-120 yuan; in the United States, the price is 150000-200000 dollars, and the price of Bao Shunli is 300000 dollars
It is not a donation (egg)
It depends on your specific needs
" An intermediary staff member in charge of overseas surrogacy said
For the egg situation, the intermediary agency introduced to 21 new health reporters: "eggs are donated by real people, and frozen eggs are provided
Frozen eggs cost 1000 dollars a piece
The prices of eggs donated by real people vary
Those with conventional academic degrees are used more often, and the price is mostly 1
50-20000 dollars
Those with higher special requirements, such as doctoral degrees, beautiful, and hundreds of thousands of yuan
" As a bridge between the demander and the surrogate mother, surrogate agents will exploit the eggs and sex selection layer by layer, and obtain huge benefits
Under the operation of the black agency, in India, the surrogate mother can only get 15%-25% of the total remuneration
Since surrogacy is expressly prohibited in China, the third-party agency for overseas surrogacy will not do anything in China, but only provide solutions to customers
All contract documents are subject to the place of occurrence
For example, if you go to the United States for surrogacy, customers need to sign a contract with a hospital in the United States
Previously, people who knew this kind of information disclosed to the media that the cost of surrogacy was different in different regions, clinics, surrogate mothers, ages and ethnicities
On average, the charge for surrogacy in the United States ranges from 1million yuan to 2million yuan
The charge for surrogacy in Ukraine and Russia is about 800000 yuan
The proportion of money available to surrogate mothers, hospitals and third-party institutions is about 3:4:3
In addition, in China, where surrogacy is legal, there are a large number of commercial and non-profit surrogacy institutions and organizations
Menhavingbabies (MHB), an international non-profit organization, is an organization dedicated to providing educational and financial support for gay men and helping them become parents through surrogacy
The organization's gay parenting assistance program (GpAp) provides hundreds of couples with more than $1million in cash grants, discounts and free services provided by more than 70 service providers every year
The agency also made a simple ranking of surrogacy agencies in the United States and Canada
Data show that the cost of surrogacy in Canada and the United States ranges from US $90000 to US $170000, which is huge
03 what gave birth to the surrogate industry? The process of giving birth to the next generation is full of the risk of death, just like going through hell
The case of "Yulin maternal jumping from a building" in 2017 is still fresh in my mind
Women suffer great physical and psychological pain during childbirth and even after childbirth
Public information shows that in 2019, there will be 17 per 100000 pregnant women
Eight people died as a result of childbirth
A post-90s obstetrician and gynaecologist working in one of the top three hospitals told 21 health reporters that he almost died after childbirth
The child was born naturally, but the massive bleeding after birth could not be stopped
The blood transfusion was about 7000-8000cc, but it was still not possible
Later, he cut off the uterus and saved his life
On the other hand, while women are facing great childbearing pressure, most enterprises will also make "gender selection" due to the childbearing situation of female employees
Pregnancy in September is undoubtedly a heavy burden for professional women in the career promotion period
Zhang Yu (a pseudonym), an employee of a multinational enterprise in Shanghai, told the 21 new health reporter that she did nothing at home for a year when she was 36 years old because she gave birth at an advanced age
During her pregnancy, she suffered from serious depression and pregnancy reaction
She had to resign and have a baby at home for a year
Not only was she separated from the society, her career was affected, her body and mind were hit, and it was a darker period in her life
What exactly gave birth to the huge surrogate industry? The increase of infertile families is one of the reasons, but on the other hand, there are also concerns from health professional women
In addition, the doctors of one of the top three hospitals in Guangzhou also spoke frankly to the 21 new health reporters
It can not be denied that due to the limitations of conditions in the current public medical system, it is often difficult to achieve perfect services in the production process
There is great room for improvement in both painless delivery and maternal physical and psychological care
Behind the problem of commercial surrogacy, it reflects the problem of women's protection
How to protect women's rights and health should not only focus on surrogacy, but also improve the whole social security system for women's rights and interests, so that surrogacy can return to its original intention and reduce the social cognition of "fear of marriage and pregnancy"
This article was first published in healthnews21 (author: tangweike, zhangxiangyi, editor: Xuxu)